VERSION: v0.01.50a (eish easy on the revision numbers eh... 
)
SUMMARY: Not bad, has some potential, reminds you of Cyberpunk in more than one way, like at launch...hopefully better with some updates and QoL
RATINGS: (out of 5):
NOTE: The following are my own criteria and may require more context, so keep an open mind.
PROS:
Its clear a good amount of effort went into this, which I can really appreciate in terms of time and such, that being said, this game does not appeal to me completely, not in its current state and while I gave it 3 stars now, I am on my way to 4 stars. Will update the review as it progresses.
I hope the review helps and I wish you all the best with your game dev.
)SUMMARY: Not bad, has some potential, reminds you of Cyberpunk in more than one way, like at launch
...hopefully better with some updates and QoLRATINGS: (out of 5):
NOTE: The following are my own criteria and may require more context, so keep an open mind.
- Models: 4
- Animations: X
- General Visuals: 4
- Characters: 3
- Story/Pacing: 3
- Writing/Dialogue: 4
- UI & Gameplay: 2
- Content Quality: X
- Sounds & Music: 4
- H-Content & Fetish: X
PROS:
- Models do look rather good, good renders, outfits and such. Sexy and strong appeal.
- General renders are good and the world is nicely sculpted.
- Music is a nice addition and fits most of the scenes well.
- Story is interesting, pretty much straight out of Cyberpunk though. Still has potential.
- Dialogue is generally pretty good, interesting and structured fairly well
- Designed well, really, but simply too annoying to play currently with time based missions and events, enough to recommend skipping this game completely.
- UI, the interface, at least the dialogue and text areas need some revision. The text needs to be scalable and the dialogue box should either extend across the screen, as default normally does, or the dev will need to split the sentences to allow for larger text in the smaller box.
- Rollback and interface options not available like dialogue box opacity.
- Internal areas like inside building where the player must still navigate, not the outside world map needs some quick means to do so, buttons or icons.
- Dialogue can use some work, stating things like "she stitched up more wounds than I can count -most not her own" is a stupid statement, obviously she would have stitched up almost exclusively patients and not herself....?
- MC looks too young, he looks 16 and not 18, I enjoy having an MC that looks manly and not childlike, has ruggedness and some facial hair or stubble at least.
- While I really appreciate the voice acting, AI or human, the voices are a bit annoying if im honest, I hope the dev puts an option to toggle voices on and off. Since other character sounds e.g. sigh, moans, cough etc could be tied to voice volume.
- Never been a fan of the mini games, at least not the timed ones that rely on button smashing or quick reflexes, its not fun. Plus the timings on this are ridiculous.
- While I like the aesthetic of the game, the colours need some revision as they make some text hard to read. As mentioned, the text also needs to be scalable to allow for larger text.
- As a note on the intro, the fading in and out text is all nice, however, don't fade the text out, just fade it in and then let the player decide when to move to next screen. While I don't read slow, I found the text, particularly the last paragraph fades rather quickly. So I'd opt for my suggestion regarding fading out.
- Though not something I particularly care for the voice acting is not bad, my focus though for sounds are on ambient, general sounds and H-scene sounds, those that create a more realistic experience.
- Some dialogue does not flow nicely when starting with other responses, e.g., MC can say Violet looks great immediately, then only greet her and then she says hi, but they already spoke in the compliment...its a nitpick sure, but its something to look into for the flow and immersion. Also having "bye" option here is not relevant since you have to speak to her to progress the story.
- Per above point, for a VN, yes players want choices, but don't give meaningless options, let the dialogue and story flow more naturally with only the required meaningful interactions and choices for the player. I hate having to click next, continue, bye when I have exhausted all other options anyway!
- Per above CON regarding SNDBX and navigation, make the game easier to navigate, add navigation icons/pins or whatever to the screen to quickly jump to places. Searching for where to go next is shit and whats worse is that its scripted poorly, I need to go someplace before going anywhere else, this is why I hate sandbox, just VN the story and let the player enjoy. e.g. of this, which again just goes up my arse in jerks is after speaking to Violet to go get a new eye, I eventually find the exit to the club, just to be told to go sleep...WTF, why even let me free roam? After the convo, give the MC an internal dialogue of "I should get some sleep its late then tomorrow I will shop around for a new eye" then fade to black or something and wake up next day.
- Something to consider, another nitpick, but whatever, is option to highlight or "pulse" interactables, be it a poster, entrance, NPC or whatever would be great.
- Another reason SNDBX is bad, particularly for unfinished games, is that you really are stuck skipping time, rinse repeat until the new content is done. This is where VNs and a chapter of content shines. It has a start and finish, no bullshit skip time till I can do the next thing, the content is there.
- The way this game plays, you end up waiting for Violet a few days or someone else a few days, because there is fuckol in between to do, this is why SNDBX simply does not work. Release a game that is complete or has content that flows from one day to the other smoothly, then just say "this is the end of the current content" don't give people a skip day skip day game to get to new content FFS! THEN Later introduce "filler" content between those days and heaven forbid require the player to play from start!
Its clear a good amount of effort went into this, which I can really appreciate in terms of time and such, that being said, this game does not appeal to me completely, not in its current state and while I gave it 3 stars now, I am on my way to 4 stars. Will update the review as it progresses.
I hope the review helps and I wish you all the best with your game dev.
